Lawyer: Murderer died in his cell

Former Broward librarian was on state's Death Row

April 29, 2008|By Jon Burstein Staff Writer

A former Broward County librarian who killed two ex-girlfriends in attacks almost two decades apart died Monday morning on Florida's Death Row.

William Coday, 51, bled to death in his cell at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford from what are being called self-inflicted wounds, said one of his attorneys, George Reres. Coday had a history of suicidal behavior and had attempted to kill himself while awaiting trial at the Broward County Jail.

"He did have a death wish," Reres said.

The Florida Department of Corrections is investigating Coday's death, but cannot disclose how he died, said Jo Ellyn Rackleff, a department spokeswoman. He was found dead in his cell at 2:42 a.m.

Reres said Coday's death raises serious concerns about security on Death Row.

"Obviously, having something sharp enough that you can cut yourself is a problem for the Department of Corrections," Reres said. "They are supposed to be watched and monitored hourly. How can he bleed to death without being found? A lot of questions come to mind."

An autopsy was performed on Coday's body Monday at the local Medical Examiner's Office in Gainesville.

Coday was on Death Row for the July 1997 murder of ex-girlfriend Gloria Gomez - a frenzied killing in which he used a hammer to beat her and when that broke, he used a second hammer and a knife. She was stabbed 41 times, cut 46 times and suffered 57 blunt injuries. Gomez was alive for all but the last of the hammer blows and stab wounds, according to forensic evidence at his trial.

The crime occurred almost 20 years after Coday used a shoemaker's hammer to beat to death his ex-girlfriend Lisa Hullinger in Hamburg, Germany, where the two Americans were students. His attorney in that case used an insanity defense and he was sentenced to three years in prison. He was released after 15 months behind bars and sent back to the United States with orders to get psychiatric help. He got some help but dropped out, partly because of the cost, he said.

The bespectacled Coday later got a job as a foreign languages librarian at the Broward County Main Library in Fort Lauderdale. Colleagues described him as mild-mannered and soft-spoken, fluent in five languages. It was at the library that he met Gomez, who had immigrated from Colombia.

They dated for a year until Gomez broke up with him, sending him into an emotional tailspin and causing his colleagues to fear he was suicidal. He begged Gomez to talk to him, luring her to his Victoria Park apartment on July 11, 1997, after concocting a tale that he was dying of cancer.

After the killing, Coday fled to Europe and North Africa. He returned in October 1997 to New York City, where he was arrested.

Coday attempted to kill himself at the Broward County Jail in September 2000, slicing his wrist and hand. His attorneys and a psychologist said they didn't learn about the attempt until eight days later.

But the Florida Supreme Court tossed out the death sentence in 2006, ruling that the judge shouldn't have disregarded testimony and evidence from six mental health experts who found that Coday suffered from serious mental illnesses. The case went back to the judge, who again sentenced Coday to die.

Gloria Gomez's family, who live in a remote area of Colombia, could not be contacted Monday. Hullinger's parents, Charlotte and Robert Hullinger of Cincinnati, Ohio, eventually founded the national support group Parents of Murdered Children.

In an e-mail Monday, Charlotte Hullinger wrote: "Does the news I received today about Bill's death bring me peace and a sense of justice? No. Does it ease my fears that perhaps there could be a new trial and someday he could be released, possibly to kill for the third time? Yes."

Coday is the subject of an upcoming book by author Stella Sands.

"[His death] surprised me because on Death Row one would have assumed that he was more closely watched," Sands said. "It didn't surprise me because he was a very brilliant man and I don't think he could live with himself. He knew he was highly flawed as a human being."

Jon Burstein can be reached at jburstein@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4491.